Over the past year or two, the Chicago Bulls front office has implemented a plan. The franchise has moved away from a costly roster with little chance of contending for a championship. In turn, a rebuild has begun, with patience being key.
However, that doesn’t mean the Bulls are immune to criticism. Yes, there appears to be a clear plan on how the team wishes to move forward. And yes, multiple trades have paid dividends over the last few years. Yet, there are still questions the team must answer, with how the team develops over the next five years being front and center.
In a recent episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” the long-time NBA analyst berated the franchise’s current trajectory.
“I don’t love a single guy on their roster,” Simmons said. “Maybe Buzelis. At gunpoint, I like Buzelis. Is he going to make it on the NBA team? I don’t know. So you think like, oh, look out for the Bulls, summer of 2026. They’ve just never been that team. We’ve never seen it. They didn’t pay the luxury tax in forever. Coby White is about to be a free agent. That scares me. What is his next contract? I just don’t know what this team is.”
Simmons continued.
“If I’m a Bulls fan, what am I excited about? My owners have already made it very clear to me we’re never going to really spend money. I just don’t really know what this team is other than a team that’s going to go 40 and 42 every year.”
A good indicator of how the Bulls’ ownership is going to support the current rebuild will be whether they can reach an agreement with Josh Giddey. The playmaking guard is currently a restricted free agent.
Giddey is Unlikely to Get $30 Million Contract
Giddey is reportedly seeking a $30 million per year deal on his next contract. During a July 9 episode of “The Fast Break” via Chicago Sports Network, Bulls’ insider K.C. Johnson shared his disbelief that Giddey will get such a significant deal this summer.
“The Bulls and Giddey want to get a deal done,” Johnson said. “I don’t have particular numbers other than to say that Josh Giddey’s $30 million a year price tag that has been well-documented in media and out there since last fall when the rookie contract extension was discussed, has not ever crossed my radar. I have never heard the Bulls mention that number. So I would not expect Josh Giddey to sign a $30 million deal.”
The restricted free agent market has been subdued, with very few teams boasting legitimate cap space. As such, Giddey doesn’t have much power in terms of negotiating a higher contractual price. Nevertheless, Chicago should be wary of him signing his qualifying offer, as that would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Bulls and Giddey Remain Far Apart in Negotiations
In a July 3 report from ESPN’s Bobby Marks, he explained how Giddey and the Bulls are still far apart in their negotiations.
“Josh Giddey, I’m going to say, I said this on SportsCenter, in the last 10 years, we’ve had five players sign qualifying offers. And what the qualifying offer does is it’s a one-year contract, and then you become an unrestricted free agent next offseason. Because it’s a one-year contract, you have full authority on any trade. So you have veto power on trades. The problem is that if you approve a trade and you are traded to that team, you will lose your bird rights…I made a joke during our production meeting, that they’re about the Gulf of Mexico apart.”
Chicago and Giddey have plenty of time to reach an agreement. Nevertheless, the Bulls should do their best to ensure negotiations don’t drag on for too long. After all, securing one of their best players’ long-term future isn’t something that should take months. Again, though, a lot will depend on how much the ownership group is willing to spend.
